System of operation of translating mechanisms



July 12, 1938. A. R. NOLL SYSTEM OF OPERATION OF TRANSLATING MECHANISMSFiled Dec. 28, 1934 44, A TTORNEYS.

Patented July 12, 1938 UNITED STATES PATENT orrlcl-z- SYSTEM orOPERATION or 'raANsLAn-NG MECHANISMS Austin B. Noll, New York, N. Y.,assignor to Intel-national Business Machines Corporation, New York, N.Y., a corporation of New York Application December 2 8, 1934, Serial No.759,505

BCIalml.

This invention relates to a system of operation of translatingmechanisms, and more partlcularly to the operation of a plurality. oftranslating mechanisms controlled by indicia record I ters Patent SerialNo. 753,254 filed November 16,

1984. In the saidapplication one preferred form of translating systemand mechanism is shown whereby several typewriting mechanisms arecontrolled and operated by several electrical sensing devicescooperating with several periorating master control sheets so that themechanisms are operated individually and in suceesare then operatedsimultaneously in accordance with the perforated representations. Onecontrol sheet controls the individual operation of the mechanisms andprovides for automatically rendering it inoperative when the secondcontrol sheet is rendered operative to control the simul-- taneousoperation of the mechanisms.

However, with the system disclosed in the said prior application it isseen that during the individual operation of each mechanism theremaining mechanisms are idle and all remain idle with the exception ofthe controlled mechanism until automatically transferred to simultaneousoperation of all the mechanisms. In the application of systems of thistype, especially when a large number of mechanisms are operated, theidle time of the individual units proves to be a costly factor. I

To illustrate the principle of operation of the present invention oneform of indicia record .control means will be described and comprises inpart a tape, sheet or ribbon on which characters or other indicia to bereproduced are represented by perforations to selectively operate theparticular associated translating mechanisms, one form of which as shownmay be a conventional type-.

writer. r The present system is particularly applicable to automaticletter writer systems whereby individual-letters having similar bodyforms may be typewritten and in addition have .the addresses of theparticular letters typewritten automatically and at the each typewriterin succession for the addressing operation, and, too, provision lion,and upon the completion of this operation same time, instead ofoperating is made for typing the addresses onthe envelopes at the sametime the individual addresses are typed on the letter sheets. v

To accomplish this procedure automatically a plurality of perforatedrolls are provided, preferably one roll for each typewriter, each rollcontrolling the individual typewriter so that all the typewriters may beoperated at the same time to insert the individual addresses. Each ofthe perforated control rolls becomesinoperative upon completion of thetype of the particular address, so that when all the addresses aretypewritten the letter body control roll is automatically operated tocontrol all the typewriters simultaneously so as to type the same letterbody form.

Another feature of the present invention is h the provision for theoperation of an additional typewriter controlled by the individuala'ddress r011 so that at the same time the addresses are typed for theletter, the same addresses may be typed on the envelope. and thenrendered i'noperative upon completion of the addressing whensimultaneous typing of the letter form is initiated.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide individualcontrol means for each mechanism to operate the mechanisms accordlnglyand simultaneously, and upon the completion of this individual andsimultaneous operation, to operate all the mechanisms simultaneously inthe same manner.

Another object of the present invention is to provide for automaticallyoperating all the mechanisms in the same manner and at the same timeupon completion of the independent operation of all the mechanisms.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide foradditional mechanisms to be operated in a, similar manner according tothe representations .on each of the individual control means and uponcompletion of such operation to be rendered inoperative during thesimultaneous, operation of controlling a selected number of mechanismsin the same manner. 7

Further and other objects of the present invention will be hereinafterset forth in the accompanying specification and claims andshown in thedrawing which by way of illustration is what I now consider to be thebest modeinwhich I have contemplated applying that" principle. Otherembodiments of the inventionemployingthe same or equivalent principlemay be used and structural changes made as desired by those skilled inthe art without departing from the 55 present invention and within thespirit of the appended claims.

In the drawing is shown a schematic diagram embodying a preferred formof the invention by way of example to set forth the principle ofoperation of the system.

Sensing mechanism Referring to the drawing, l0 indicates generally thepreferred form of sensing device for controlling the typewriters T whichmay be of any conventional type whereby the character key bars and thecorresponding type bars (not shown) are controlled by the associatedsolenoids S to effect printing of the characters. The following briefdescription of the sensing device will be sufficient, since a morecomplete disclosure is made in the co-pending application Serial No.743,208, filed September 8, 1934, and which as shown is provided with ahorizontal transverse conducting roller II which supports and feeds theelongated perforated sheet I! wide enough to contain a longitudinalseries of perforations for the control of each of the correspondingsensing brushes C.

It is adapted so that the position of a single perforation on the sheetindicates the particular character representation. Therefore when thesheet is fed continuously to the sensing device by suitable means, suchas the motor M, and when the particular brush C senses its correspondingcharacter perforation, a solenoid S is energized to depress acorresponding key bar and type bar to record the character correspondingto the character perforation sensed. A complete description of thisoperation will be set forth hereinafter. In addition to the charactersensing brushes C of which there are as many as character key bars to beoperated by the solenoids 8, control brush C--IC is provided forpurposes understood as the description progresses.

All the individual sensing devices associated with the motors M-l to M!are similar in every respect to the device just described with theexception that an additional control brush is provided in connectionwith the device operated by motor M5, the purpose of which will becomeevident hereinafter.

Individual mechanism control and simultaneous operation thereof It willbe understood that the perforations on the sheets I! are formed by anysuitable means and are provided on a sheet or roll wide enough tocontain a longitudinal series of perforations for the control of eachelement of the machine to be operated, and used in connection with thetranslating procedure, that is the type bars and their associatedsolenoids, to actuate the corresponding type bars.

Referring to the drawing, let it be assumed that the perforated rolls l2associated with the devices operated by motors M-l to M! are placed onthe corresponding feed rollers H so that when the motors M-l to M-J areenergized the rolls associated therewith are introduced between theircorresponding sensing brushes C and the conducting rollers II and thatthe perforations are located so that the typewriters 'I'-I to T-l areoperated in an independent manner simultaneously, and that upon thecompletion of this operation of the typewriters, the motors M-i to M4will be deenergized and motor M energized to feed its perforated roll toits corresponding brushes L to control the plurality of typewriters inthe same manner and simultaneously.

masses Upon depression of the start key I, current from grounded batteryI. is conducted to relay AR-I by conductor l1, and through the closedcontacts of key ii to ground, energizing the said relay, to establishthe following locking circuit from the grounded battery I, conductor [1,relay ARI, its now closed contact ARC-4, conductor ll, normally closedcontact LRC-I of relay LR-l to ground 1!. Relay AR-l therefore remainsenergized until this circuit just traced is broken by operation of thenormally closed contacts LRC2 of relay LR-I, which will be fullyexplained hereinafter.

Energization of relay AR-I also closes its associated contacts ARC-l, Iand I to initiate the following operations:

Current is conducted from grounded battery II and conductor H to closedcontact ARC3 and common conductor 20 connected to the normally closedcontacts 'I'RD-l to 'I'RD4 of relays TR-l to I to energize the connectedslow release relays SR-I to SR-l, thereby causing their correspondingcontacts SRC-I to SRO-4 to be closed to conduct current from groundedbattery II and conductors l1 and 2| through the said. closed contactsSRC--l to BBC-4 to the corresponding connected motors M-l to M4. It isevident from the description set forth that the motors M-I to M4 willoperate the sensing devices and feed the corresponding perforated rollsI! to the sensing brushes C until the SRCI to SEC-4 contacts of relaysSRI to SR4 are broken, that is until the corresponding TR relays areenergized to open their normally closed contacts TRD to deenergize theSR relays.

Current is also conducted from grounded battery IO and conductor Ilthrough the closed contact ARC-l, common conductor 22 to the normallyclosed contacts TRAI to I of relays TR-l to I and by the correspondingconductors 28, II, 28 and 20 to magnets'BlE, 2E, IE and IE, energizingthese magnets until the TBA contacts are opened by virtue ofenergization of their corresponding TR relays. Energization of the Bmagnets closes the corresponding contacts BC- IE, 2E, IE and E, thepurpose of which will be explained later.

It was also mentioned that the contacts ARC-2 of relay AR-l were closedby the energization of their relay the purpose of which will becomeevident later in the description.

It has been seen so far that the motors M-l to M4 have been energized tofeed the corresponding perforated rolls I! to the brushes C and that atthe same time the B-IE, 2E, 3E and 4E magnets were energized closing thecorresponding contacts BOIE, IE, 3!: and IE.

In order for the following description to be more comprehensive, theoperation of one of the typewriters for example T-l will be explainedfirst, and is as follows: The feeding of the perforated roll I! by themotor M-I to the character sensing brushes C-l permits the correspondingconnected solenoidsS-l of typewriter T-l to be energised when the saidbrush engages or senses its particular perforation via grounded brush lladapted to be in engagement with roller ll continuously, conductingroller ll, brush C-l, the corresponding solenoid S-l of typewriter T-l,common conductors II, II and I to grounded battery ll.

It was mentioned hereinbefore that provision was made for the operationof an envelope addressing typewriter while the similar address was typedon the letter sheet. Let it be assumed It is to be. understood that thepresent system maybe operated in a manner to be explained with orwithout the envelope typing feature whenever so desired.

It will be remembered that the magnet B--iE was energized to close itscontacts BC-iE when the SR,I relay was energized. Therefore when thecorresponding solenoid S-l of typewriter Tl is energized by its sensingbrush C-l sensing the particular perforation in roll l2, to effectrecording of the corresponding character, the same character will berecorded by' typewriter T-IE, since the corresponding solenoid S-IE willbe energized because grounded battery It is now connected by conductors35 and 40 to the said solenoid and by virtue of. the closed contactsBCIE to ,the character sensing brushes C-I and thence to ground. It isseen therefore that the typewriters T-l and T-IE are operatedsimultaneously in accordance with the sensing operation of theperforated roll l2 operated by its motor M-I.

Similarly, motors M2, 3 and 4 are adapted to feed their respectiveperforated rolls l2 to the sensing brushes C2, 3 and 4 to control thetypewriters T-2, .3 and 4, and T--2E, 3E and 4E in accordance with therespective perforated rolls. It is seen therefore that the typewritersT-I, 2, 3 and 4 are operated simultaneously to type the individual andcorresponding addresses in accordance with the control rolls l2 and alsothat the typewriters 'I'--IE, 2E, 3E and 4E may be operatedsimultaneously to type the envelopes or other material requiring thesame addresses that are typed by the respective machines Tl, 2, 3 and 4,.during the same addressing cycle.

Referring again to the individual operation of typewriters T--| and T|E,at the completion of sensing the perforations representative of theaddress type, control brush C-- |C is adapted to engage a perforation toenergize relay TIL-l as follows: Current from grounded battery I6 isconducted via conductors l1 and 42 to relay TR-l, and by conductor 43 tobrush C--IC, conducting roller l l and thence to grounded contact 30,energizing relay TRr-l and establishing the following locking circuit;grounded battery "5,

' conductors l1 and 42, relay TR-l, now closed contact TRG-I, conductor43, normally closed contact LRC-l of relay LRI and ground l9.Energization of relay TR-I causes its contacts TRBI and TRC-I to beclosed and the normally closed contacts 'I'RA-I and TRD-J to be opened.

Breaking of contact TRA-l causes the magnet B-IE to be de-energizedthereby opening its contacts BC-IE and opening the individual circultsto the character solenoids SIE of typewriter 'IIE. Contacts TRD-i "openthe circuit to de-energize the slow release relay SR.-l, so that itscontacts SEC-4 are opened to disconnect the motor M-l from the powersource battery It. The purpose of the slow release relay SR--I is toinsure the operation of the motor M--l a timed interval of sufficientduration so that the said control perforation sensed on roll I2 is fedbeyond the sensing position of brush C--IC.

In a like manner, control perforations on the rolls i2 fed by the motorsM-2, 3 and 4, sensed by the corresponding control brushes C2C, C-3C and-40 cause the energization of relays TRr-2, 3 and 4 whenever they aresensed, that is upon the completion of the typing of the perforatedaddresses on the said rolls. Slow release relays SR-2, 3 and 4 in turnare de-energized to cut out the operated motors M-2, 3 and 4 in a manneras just explained.

Therefore it is seen that all the TR relays are now energized andmaintained in this condition due to the established locking circuitsassociated therewith, and that all the motors M-l to M-J are renderedinoperative, and that the magnets BIE, 2E, 3E and 4E are de-energized,opening the circuits to the solenoids of typewriters T-IE to 4E, andthat all the contacts TRB-I to TRB4 of the relays TRr-| to 4 are nowclosed to establish the following circuit: grounded battery l5,conductors i1, 42 and 45, contacts TRB-l now closed, contacts TRB2, 3and 4 now closed, conductor 46, relay LR-'-i to ground I9 to energizethis relay.

Common mechanism control and simultaneous operation thereof throughconductor 43 and previously described,

and to open the locking circuit for relay ARr-l established throughconductor I8 as described hereinbefore, de-energizing relays AR,I andall the TR relays.

Current from grounded battery I6 is now conducted to closed contactLRC--4 of relay LR-l,

conductor 54 to slow release relayI SR-5 to ground 55, energizing thisrelay to conduct current from grounded battery l6, conductor 36 throughits now closed contacts SRC5 to motor M5 and ground 55, energizing thesaid motor which is adapted to feed a similar perforated roll, asexplained previously, to its character sensing brushes Lrl.

Through the closed contacts LRC3, current from grounded battery I6 isconductod to the magnets Bl to 4 by common conductor 55, energizing thesaid magnets to close the corresponding contacts BC-l, 2, 3 and 4. It isseen that theoperation of magnets B-I to 4 connects the solenoids S-l to4 of the typewriters T-l to 4 to the common conductors 60, 6| and 62.

Therefore, the character sensing brushes L-I upon engaging perforationsin the roll fed by the energized motor M-5, energize the connectcdcommon conductors 60, GI and 62 to energize all the correspondingconnected solenoids, operating the corresponding typewriterssimultaneously and similarly, that is recording the same characterrepresentations on all the connected machines in accordance with thesensed perforations.

Upon completion of the common typewritten 'matter sensed by the brushesLl, the device machines in a different manner. and operatedsimultaneously as previously described, or the device may be stopped atthe completion of the common matter to be recorded to restore theapparatus to its normal condition.

The first operation set forth will now be described: A controlperforation is sensed by control brush L2 to energize the connectedrelay TFI, causing the normally closed contacts 'IFC-l to be opened tobreak the described locking circuit established through conductor 5| forrelay LR-l and the contacts 'IFC2 now closed to energize the relay AR-iby the connected grounded battery l6, through conductor ll, re-

lay AR-I, conductor 10, to contacts TFC-2 to ground l8. I'he energizedrelay AR-I establishes a locking circuit through its now closed contactARC-4 through the now closed contact LRC-l of de-energized relay LR-I aspreviously explained.

The relay 'I'Fl then becomes de-energized since the motor circuit wascontinued to be established by virtue of the contacts SEC-5 of the slowrelease relay SR-5 so that the perforated roll was continuously fed bythe said motor to feed the roll forward beyond the sensing position ofthe control brush L-2.

De-energization of relay LR-I caused the contacts LEO-J to be opened tode-energize the magnets B-l to l to open the solenoid circuits to thecommon conductors 60, ii, and 62. Energization of relay AR-i causes themotors M-l to 4 to be operated to feed the associated perforated rolls1! to the brushes C to operate the typewriters T-l to T4 simultaneouslyand in accordance with the separate control rolls, also to operate thetypewriters T-IE to E in a similar manner and precisely as explainedhereinbefore.

It is evident that in this manner a continuous simultaneous letter andenvelope typing operation for the separate addresses may be establishedin conjuntcion with the simultaneous operation of the typewriters forthe common body of the letters.

However, at the completion of the first complete cycle of operation,that is typing of the addresses and the common body of the letters, orat the completion of any complete cycle, it may be desired to stop thedescribed system and restore the apparatus to normal and in conditionfor initiating later cyclic operations as described, which will now bedescribed.

A control perforation is sensed by the control brush L! to energize theconnected relay SI causing its contact SC-l to be opened, breaking thelocking circuit established for relay LR-l through its contact LRC'5 andconductor 5 I. It was explained how the de-energization of relay LR-Icauses the de-energization of magnets B-l to 4 to open the circuits tocommon conductors 60, ii, and 62, and the .dc-energization. of slowrelease relay SR-i, which however, as explained hereinbei'ore, permitsthe motor M---! to be energized long enough to feed the perforated rollassociated therewith beyond the sensing position of control brush L-J tocause de-energization of relay S-l, thus returning the apparatus to itsnormal position, and conditioned for further operations, as described,upon depression of the start key I5.

While there has been shown and described and pointed out the fundamentalnovel features of the invention as applied to a single modification, itwill be understood that various omissions and substitutions and changesin the form and details of the device illustrated and in its operationmay be made by those skilled in the art without departing from thespirit of the invention. It is the intention therefore to be limitedonly as indicated by the scope of the following claims.

What is claimed is as follows:

l. A system of the class described comprising a plurality of translatingmechanisms, a plurality of indicia record control means and arranged sothat a translating mechanism is adapted to be controlled by anindividual indicia record control means for reproducing the indiciarepresented thereon, circuit control means to initiate operation of thesaid record control means and their associated translating mechanismssimultaneously, so that each translating mechanism reproduces theindicia represented on the record control means associated therewith, anadditional indicia record control means, and control means to connectautomatically the translating mechanisms with said additional indiciarecord control means so that all the said mechanisms are operatedsimultaneously in accordance with the indicia represented on said commonrecord control means.

2. A system of the class described comprising a plurality of translatingmechanisms, a plurality of indicia record control means therefor,circuit control means to connect automatically the said translatingmechanisms to a predetermined number of the said indicia record controlmeans whereby the translating mechanisms individually and simultaneouslyreproduce the indicia represented on the associated indicia recordcontrol means, and circuit control means to connect automatically thesame translating mechanisms to a different indicia record control meansof said plurality of control means so as to reproduce simultaneously onall the said mechanisms the indicia represented on the said diil'erentindicia record control means.

3. A system of the class described comprising a plurality of translatingmechanisms, a plurality of indicia record control means, circuit controlmeans to connect automatically a predetermined number of said mechanismsto individual indicia record control means to reproduce at the same timethe indicia represented on the associated indicia record control means,circuit control means to connect automatically all of the operatedmechanisms to a common and different indicia record control means ofsaid plurality of control means so as to reproduce simultaneously on themechanisms the indicia represented on the said common record controlmeans, and means to automatically effect the second named simultaneousoperation upon completion of the first named simultaneous operation.

4. A system of the class described comprising a plurality of translatingmechanisms, a plurality of indicia record control means, circuit controlmeans to connect'automatically groups of a predetermined number of saidmechanisms to individual indicia record control means so that the saidgroups reproduce simultaneously the indicia represented on theassociated record control means, a common and different indicia recordcontrol means, circuit control means to connect automatically a selectednumber of the said translating mechanisms to said common and differentindicia record control, means so that the selected mechanismssimultaneously reproduce the indicia represented on the said commonrecord control means. means to automaticalso that the said groups ofmechanisms reproduce the indicia represented on the associatedindividual record means simultaneously, and means operated automaticallyupon completion of the controlling function of each of the individualindicia control means to render the said indicia control meansinoperative.

6. A system 0! the class described comprising a plurality of translatingmechanisms, a plurality of indicia record control means, circuit controlmeans to connect automatically groups of said translating mechanisms toindividual indicia.

record control means to reproduce simultaneously the indicia representedon the associated record control means, and individual circuitsincluding electromagnetic means associated with each record controlmeans and energized individually upon the completion of the individualcontrolling function of the associated indicia record means, and meanscontrolled by the operation of said electromagnetic means to render theindividual indicia control means inoperative.

dividual indicia record-control means so as to reproduce theindiciarepresented thereon simultaneously by the associated mechanisms, acommon and difierent indicia record control means, means controlled uponthe completion of the operation of each of said indicia record controlmeans to render said common and different record control meansoperative, means to connect automatically the said translatingmechanisms to the common indicia record control means so as to reproducesimultaneously the indicia represented thereon, and means operated uponthe completion of the controlling function of the said common controlmeans to operate automatically the aforementioned individal'indiciarecord control means and.

the said associated mechanisms.

8. A system of the class described comprising a plurality of translatingmechanisms, a plurality of indicia record control means, circuit controlmeans to connect automatically groups of said translating mechanisms toindividual indicia record control means to reproduce simultaneously theindicia represented on the, associated indicia record control means, andindividual circuits including electromagnetic means associated with eachindicia record control means and energized individually upon thecompletion of the individual controlling function of the associatedindicia record control means, a common and difierent indicia recordcontrol means, circuits to render said common and different indiciarecord control means operative when all of said'electro nagnetic meansare energized, and means to connect automatically certain of saidtranslating mechanisms to the common indicia record control means toreproduce in unison the indicia represented thereon.

AUSTIN R. NOLL.

